TORONTO — Nick Nurse has been saying it all season. On nights when Kawhi Leonard would go 10-of-25, or 7-of-20, or 12-of-21. When the Toronto Raptors star would look as strong as ever, fighting his way to exactly where he wanted to be on the floor, taking good, high-percentage shots with a lower-than-expected rate of conversion. The Raptors head coach would watch those games and wonder: when’s the night going to come that all those good looks start to fall?
“And then, last night, they just went in,” Nurse said Wednesday, the morning after Leonard’s commanding performance in a 122-116 Raptors victory over the Utah Jazz. “I was expecting that game to come at some point.”
Tuesday, Leonard was overwhelming. He poured in a career-high 45 points on 16-of-22 shooting, and 13-of-17 from the free-throw line. Somewhat incredibly, he did it all without making a single three-pointer. If one or two of the threes he took fell — or even the four free-throws he missed — his career night could have gone from dominant to extraordinary.
Instead, Leonard took what was given and owned the midrange, hitting a better rate of his contested looks (6-of-8) than his uncontested ones (10-of-14). He was undeniable at the rim and fought his way to one of his preferred spots to the left of the basket over and over again:
And it happened so suddenly. Leonard had only six field-goal attempts with four minutes remaining in the second quarter and he’d missed two of them. He attempted only three free-throws in the first half, and went to the dressing room clearly displeased with a series of non-calls.
He started getting those fouls on the other side of the break. But maybe what was most remarkable about his second-half takeover was its efficiency. He finished the game with a lofty 38.8 per cent usage rate but touched the ball only 58 times, which was third on his team. Pascal Siakam needed nearly 20 more touches to notch his own career-best scoring night with 28 points.
“You have a certain rhythm about yourself. And in games like this, it’s easy to make shots,” Leonard said after the game. “I always enjoy the challenge of missing your first couple and seeing where you’re going to stay. If you’re going to be mentally focused or confident in your shot.
“I’ve been missing the last few games with my shot, so I felt like that’s why I took the challenge tonight. I just know I can make those shots and stay in my groove and just try to win. That’s it. That’s all I’m trying to do — just win the game.”
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Leonard demonstrated that late in the game, as Utah began double-teaming him with zeal, sometimes picking him up at half court. Time and again, Leonard made sound decisions under pressure, moving the ball to teammates for unguarded looks that helped the Raptors stave off Utah’s comeback. Leonard attempted only two field goals in the final three and a half minutes.
“I mean, he’s really good,” Siakam said after the game, laughing. “He’s really good, man. People kind of forgot a little bit.”
And where better to continue reminding people than San Antonio? Perhaps you’ve noticed there is some added interest in Toronto’s upcoming regular season game with the Spurs — the one everyone will be watching on Thursday.
With DeMar DeRozan facing the Raptors for the first time since his stunning summer trade, Kyle Lowry fighting to get over a back injury in time to play against his best friend (the Raptors point guard is listed as doubtful), and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich seeing Leonard for the first time since questioning his leadership, there is no shortage of provocative storylines running through the night before we even mention the most compelling one of all.
That would be Leonard making his return to Texas, where he spent his entire career prior to this, his eighth NBA season. In a funny way, the mysterious circumstances surrounding Leonard’s lost 2017, and his reticence to discuss a clearly acrimonious divorce from the Spurs, has only served to escalate the anticipation. NBA fans and observers are desperate to mine his performance for meaning — to find hints of indignation or vengefulness in every move he makes on the court.
Will Leonard embrace Popovich? Will he react to the loud booing he’s expected to receive? Will he play possessed, pouring it all onto the court, making his career night against the Jazz look ordinary in comparison? Will he just treat it like any other night?
The answers to those questions are as follows: Yes; unlikely; perhaps; almost certainly. For all the bluster and bloviating that will emanate before, during, and after this game, Leonard’s the last guy to get caught up in any of it. For him, it’s just another night in the league. Contest No. 39 of 82 — a cobblestone on the months-long road of trying to achieve something greater. Just like No. 38 was Tuesday night.
“My goal is way bigger than just trying to score 40 points in the game,” Leonard said. “It’s about down the road in June, and trying to be the best basketball team we can be. If that’s me scoring 20 points, or whatever, 17, then that’s where I want to be at as a team so we can win games.”
Don’t believe Leonard himself? Take the word of Danny Green, who came over to Toronto with Leonard in July’s trade. He’ll be making his own return to San Antonio, where he spent his last eight seasons. Not that anyone seems particularly interested in that.
Tuesday, Green met an army of parachuted-in television reporters at the Raptors practice facility armed with microphones and banal questions about Leonard. They came in search of something spicy. A quote about how badly Leonard wants to stick it to his old team — how he’s going into Thursday with something prove. They left disappointed.
“I think he has something to prove all year, not just there,” Green said. “I think every night he’s going out with something to prove. I don’t think it’s just because of the location or the team. I think every night, every team he plays against, he wants to be great and do well.
“The controversy was more so within the media,” Green continued, refusing the bait. “There wasn’t much controversy behind closed doors. Everybody was cordial and talked like adults. There was nothing crazy going on. Just some things didn’t work out the way they wanted them to.”
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